


Take My Hand

by eljw0733



Category: virtuemoir
Genre: Inspired by Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 12:03:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eljw0733/pseuds/eljw0733
Summary: The beginnings of the relationship between Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue -- from meeting in Ilderton to their first Olympics in Vancouver.





	1. Crossing Paths

A young, dark-haired boy runs through the parking lot of the Ilderton Skating Rink, barreling towards the main entrance doors without so much of a backwards glance towards reversing cars. A bag is thrown over his shoulder and his unzipped coat flaps behind him. His hat is loosely on his head, not even covering his ears, and a half-eaten granola bar is hanging from his mouth. A few adults turn to see him hurriedly enter the lobby, but none scold him on his appearance or his tardiness.

All of the nine-year-olds are already doing warm-up strokes on the ice. The only reason he is getting away with being late is due to the fact that his aunt is his skating coach. Unceremoniously, he dumps the contents of his skating bag onto one of the benches lining the walls, discards his sneakers, and starts to pull on his skates. The worn stitching along the toes and the fraying laces are a dead give-away that he is the third boy in his family to wear them.

Once he's all laced up, he trudges towards the main entrance doors to the ice. As he walks, he zips his coat and fixes his hat. Before he steps onto the ice, he removes his skate guards and throws them down next to the first row of bleachers. There must be close to thirty pairs of guards lining the boards, and he doesn't feel like looking through them all for his when he's done skating.

He steps over the edge of the rink and quickly makes his way to center ice. The majority of the kids are regulars. A specific warm-up pattern is followed and it makes it easier to avoid skating into people. Before he can fully stretch out his legs and complete a full lap, he senses someone skating behind him and feels a set of hands on his shoulders.

"Why are you late again, Scott?"

He peers up at his aunt, smiling nervously.

"I stayed after school to turn in some homework," he responds.

"We both know that's a lie," she laughs. "You have to quit being late! You're worse than Danny!" She skates back towards the boards and leaves him to keep warming up.

Scott takes any comparison to Danny as a complement. His older brother is notorious for tardiness, but he gets away with it because he is a really good skater. He and his dance partner, Sheri, have been entering national competitions in ice dance for a few years. They practice early in the mornings and after school, often times causing Scott to do his homework in the lobby of the rink.

As Scott skates the perimeter of the rink, he subconsciously notices a group of single skaters doing their cool down lap. They practice an hour ahead of the boys group, yet a few of the girls stay for personal lessons after the group practice.

Aunt Carol and his mother have been trying to find another ice dance partner for him since his last partner quit. Her family didn't want to continue her skating anymore because of the cost and the long commute. In the back of his mind, he was thanking his lucky stars. Her edges were terrible and the majority of the practices were spent focusing on her and not the both of them.

Scott had found a group of his friends and they were proceeding to play tag around the rink. He joined in and before long was flying around the perimeter, close to the boards, and narrowly avoided taking one of his buddies out.

"Scott! Come over here!" Aunt Carol had to shout over the chatter of the rink.

He looped around and stopped in front of the group. He immediately recognized one of the single skaters standing in front of this mother. She was one of the younger girls in the group. Her coat was buttoned all the way to the collar and big gloves covered her hands. Her eyes appraised him as he stood there. He immediately felt self-conscious and straightened his posture.

The group of girls standing there were all a part of Aunt Carol's single skaters class. He never paid much attention to any of them unless they were directly in his skating path on the ice.

"This is my nephew, Scott. He's Alma's youngest son," Carol explained to the group. Most of the skaters at the rink already knew him, but just as Danny Moir's younger brother.

Scott stared at the ground and gave an awkward half-wave. A few of the girls giggled at his expense.

"Think you can model a few moves for us, Scott?" Aunt Carol asked.

He nodded wordlessly. She rattled off a few moves and he quickly looped around, avoided running into other skaters, and executed them. A few of the older boys clapped and whooped at him across from the boards as he showed off in front of the girls.

As soon as Aunt Carol dismissed him, he darted away back towards his friends. He vaguely heard his aunt thanking him for his help as he skated away.

Fifteen minutes later, the skaters from around the rink were rounded up for attendance. The girls and guys were intermixed at center ice and a few of the pair skaters were holding hands. Scott continued to skate around and joke with his buddies. Before he got completely out of hand, he felt someone aggressively grab his arm. He looked up to see his cousin, Sheri. She had a look of disapproval on her face and just shook her head, indicating that he needed to settle down. 

Scott attempted to cross his arms in front of him, but Sheri continued to hold him in one spot. From the front of the group, Alma winked at Sheri. The rest of Scott's buddies chuckled at him as he was silently scolded.

A group of girls turned to look at him and he made a point to look the other way. After attendance was taken and warm-up was complete, the skaters lined up to start their skating drills. Cones were placed around the ice and skaters were to circle around the cones to work on edges and turning.

Sheri slowly released her grip and Scott skated over to his friends to stand in line. The CanSkate program was something that had been going on in Ilderton for as long as Scott could remember, so he was already familiar with the majority of the fundamental skating skills that were being practiced. He hardly tried when it came to cone drills.

He effortlessly turned and had impeccable cross-overs. His technical skating skills were drilled into him from an early age. His mother was a professional figure skater and his family lived only a few hundred yards from the rink. His family had always been a skating family. Instead of going to daycare, his mother would strap skates to his feet and hold his hand as she coached. Once he started to find his balance, he was playing around the rink and in the stands with his brothers.

His two older brothers, Charlie and Danny, were always on the ice. His cousins lived only a few miles down the road and they were around just as much as the boys were. The name Moir was synonymous with skating.

One of Scott's cousins, Cara, was in the stands sitting with a girl Scott had never seen before. The pair of them were sitting a few feet from an elderly woman who seemed to be focused on the skaters on the ice.

Scott skated to the boards and yelled, "Cara! Why aren't you on the ice?"

She waved and yelled back, "Growth spurt! My legs are killing me!"

He just shook his head and skated away. He wished he could have a growth spurt so he could sit in the stands. Being a few inches taller wouldn't be so bad, either.

The girl in the stands next to Cara turns and asks, "Who is that boy?"

"Oh, that's just my cousin, Scott," Cara explains. "He's a good skater, but he's trouble."

The girl, Jordan, points to her sister doing cone drills close to center ice. "That's my younger sister, Tessa. How old is Scott?"

"He's nine. Our family just celebrated his birthday last weekend."

Jordan smiles, "Tessa is seven. I think the two of them would be cute together."

The girls giggle and observe the pair of them across from each other on the ice. They look to be similar size, both small, but they are both equally good skaters. A few times, Tessa glances over to watch Scott go through the cones. It's almost as if she is keeping an eye on him.

"We should introduce them," Cara says, smiling.

Jordan laughs and agrees. For the rest of the session, the girls sit and envision how good the two young skaters would look together.

At the end of the session, Scott skates towards the bleachers to grab his guards. He knew throwing them out of the way was smart. The rest of the kids sort through the array of guards and it creates a huge pile-up at the edge of the rink.

He quickly slips his guards over his blades and walks towards the exit.

"Scott!" Cara calls out to him from the sixth row up in the bleachers.

"I'm not climbing up there in skates. I got hurt last time," he explains.

"Fine. Jordan and I will come down to you." The two girls proceed to then loudly jump down the bleachers.

"So, how goes it, little buddy?" Cara teases.

"What now?" Scott rolls his eyes. He knows where this is going. Cara is reputable for getting him into even more trouble than he is capable of getting into on his own. "I'm not stealing candy from Charlie's skate bag again. Go ask him yourself."

Scott starts to walk away but Cara grabs his arm and turns him back around. "We want you to meet somebody. No need for stealing."

Cara places an arm over Scott's shoulders and the three of them walk over to the elderly woman in the stands. She now stands with a young brunette girl, the one who was staring at Scott earlier. She still hasn't taken off her gloves.

"Hey, T. I want you to meet someone," Jordan explains. "This is..."

"Scott. I've seen him before," Tessa replies.

"You skate very well, young man," the elderly woman, the girls' grandmother, says with a smile.

Scott nods and smiles, "Thank you."

"Seeing as you guys are always skating in the same sessions, we thought we would introduce you two," Jordan explains. "Apparently, if you already know each other, then you should be able to talk to each other, right?"

Cara pulls Scott in tighter. "Scott isn't a shy guy. Right, Scott?"

Scott's eyes grow wide and he glances at Tessa. She just shrugs and continues to take off her skates.

"Well, Scott knows the concessions guy. How about he runs and grabs you a hot chocolate?" Cara glances at Scott and then motions for him to get going.

Scott doesn't hesitate. He turns and strides straight out of the main rink and heads to the benches where he left his sneakers and money. He quickly changes out of his skates and ties up his shoes. Zipping up his bag, he picks it up by the strap and throws it next to his brothers' bags.

With a few coins jingling in his pocket, he walks up to the concessions.

"Hey, Jimmy," Scott says.

"Hey, bud. The usual?" Jimmy smiles.

"Yes, please."

Scott hands over his money and Jimmy slides a hot chocolate with extra whip cream on to the counter in front of him.

"Stay out of trouble, Scotty," he says with a wave.

Scott finds his way to the entrance doors and heads over to the bleachers. Cara is nowhere to be found but Jordan and Tessa are standing by the boards. It looks like the girls' grandmother is talking to Aunt Carol.

Taking a deep breath, Scott wills himself to just go through with it. He makes his way towards the girls and can feel his hand blistering from gripping the steaming cup too tightly.

He taps Tessa on the shoulder and stiffly extends his other arm to hand her the hot chocolate.

"Thank you," she says sweetly.

"See you tomorrow?" he asks.

"See you tomorrow," she responds with a shy smile.

Alma rounds up all of the Moir kids in the lobby. The only one who ever seems to be missing is Scott. He comes rounding the corner just as she is about to send out the search team.

"Where were you?" she says with a frown.

"I was talking to my friends." He moves to pick up his bag from the floor and Charlie snags it from him.

"Why did it take so long? We've been waiting for you," Charlie says, taunting him by swinging his bag around.

Scott grabs the bag back and aggressively throws it over his shoulder. "None of your business."

"Alright, boys. Enough," Alma quiets them. "Let's go get our hot chocolates and head home."

The group heads to the counter, but Scott stays behind.

Alma turns to scold him, but Scott interjects, "I forgot my money."

Without saying anything, Alma just shakes her head and turns to follow her two older boys to the concessions. As Scott sits down with his bag, he notices Tessa trailing behind Jordan and their grandmother heading towards the parking lot. Tessa shyly waves goodbye. With a grin on his face, Scott waves back.


	2. Ilderton Carnival

Scott sits at the kitchen table with his brother, Charlie. They are eating a snack before Scott heads to ice skating practice and Charlie gets dropped off at hockey. Their mother, Alma, is down the hallway attempting to find all of the boys' practice gear and pack their skating bags.

"Charlie, didn't I tell you to let your hockey gear air out? We're going to have to tie it to the roof of the car!" Alma yells from the garage.

Scott and Charlie look at each other and laugh. "I aired out my skates and my gloves. That's all that matters," Charlie mutters.

"Are they playing you as a winger today?" Scott asks.

Charlie responds with a full mouth, "They will probably start me on the defensive line."

The boys sit in silence for a few moments, both finishing their food. Alma emerges from the hallway and by the look on her face, Scott can tell he's in for it.

"You haven't changed for practice yet, Scott," she scolds him.

"I just have to go switch into some pants. I don't even have to wear a coat. It's nice out," he explains defensively.

"You're going to the rink. It doesn't matter if it's nice out. It's always cold in the rink. Please put on some pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket. Your hat is in the front hall closet with your gloves. I better not get a call from your aunt today," she says as she starts to make her way towards the stairs. "I expect you to listen and follow directions at practice."

Scott responds with a curt, "Yes, ma'm."

Charlie puts his dishes in the sink and then jokingly points a finger scoldingly at Scott. Scott sticks out his tongue once his brother turns his back and starts to trudge up the stairs to change.

As the Moir van pulls away from the house, Scott starts the short walk to the rink. The only thing between the Moir backyard and the parking lot of the Ilderton Skating Rink is an unkept, tall grass field.

Scott walks through his backyard, across the grass field, and steps onto the black asphalt parking lot. The yellow lines that make up the parking spaces are starting to fade and need to be repainted, but the skating rink building itself is bright blue from a new coat of paint it received over the summer.

Scott narrowly avoids a car turning into the parking lot and quickly makes his way to the front doors. His bag starts to fall off of his shoulder so he resorts to dragging it. Once he's in the main doors, a few of his friends greet him from the changing area. Before he can sit down at a bench to put his skates on, he gets pulled aside by Cara.

"Why are you never on time? Jordan and I have been waiting for you," she says, grabbing him by the back of his jacket. She pushes him along to the entrance doors and into the bleachers.

Jordan turns to see Cara dragging Scott. "Isn't that a little much, Cara?"

Cara just responds with, "No. You have to use a little brute force sometimes."

Scott tries to shake her off. "Why do you manhandle me more than my brothers?"

"I take that as a compliment," Cara says with a smile. She releases his jacket and sits him down on the bleachers next to her. Jordan sits a row in front of them and turns around.

"You need to be extra nice to Tessa today. She really likes you," Jordan explains.

Scott rolls his eyes. "Is this seriously what you guys wanted to tell me? Now I'm definitely going to be late."

"Just talk to her today. That's all we're saying," Cara mutters.

"You don't think she'll notice that we're all sitting up here talking about her?" Scott says.

The three of them pan towards the ice and notice Tessa standing at the boards. "What are you guys doing?" she shouts.

"Oh, jeez. Get lost, Scott. Don't blow this," Cara whispers. She nudges Scott towards the stairs and he takes them two at a time to try and not be too late for warm-up.

As Scott is starting his warm-up laps on the ice, Tessa is still finishing her cool down. He feels self-conscious when he skates up behind her.

"Hey, Tessa," he greets her. It almost comes out as a whisper.

She turns and smiles with recognition. "Hello."

He clears his throat before he speaks again. "Did you work on spins today?"

She smiles, "Yeah. The girls worked on spins. I bet that's what the boys will do, too."

"Cool. I better get back to warming up." Scott gives her a quick wave before speeding up and continuing his warm-up crossovers.

As he rounds the corner, he glances up towards the stands and looks for Cara and Jordan. Cara gives him a subtle thumbs up before he goes back to paying attention to skating.

By the end of the next week, Scott has talked to Tessa every day. He has made a point to skate with her during one of her cool down laps. He is always the one that talks, but at least Cara isn't wrestling him into the bleachers anymore.

At some point, kids at the rink start talking about Scott and Tessa dating each other. Scott never denies any of the rumors, so they both just go along with it. They still hardly mutter more than a sentence a day to each other, but everyone agrees that they are cute together. Scott's brothers give him a hard time about it. For the most part, Scott doesn't mind people talking about him and Tessa. It's not like he has to do much on his part anyway.

The only time Scott goes out of his way to talk to her occurs when Danny makes him pick up the house phone and call her. Danny got her family's number from Cara and he sits with Scott as the phone rings on the other line. Jordan picks up on the fourth ring and hands the phone to Tessa.

Their time on the phone isn't very vocal on Tessa's part. It's mostly Scott being coached by Danny on what to say. Scott grips the phone tightly and feels butterflies hitting the walls of his stomach. He mentions making the first string in hockey and talks about the Ilderton Carnival that's coming up on Friday. The call ends with Scott and Danny being called into the other room for dinner. He says a curt goodbye before hanging up the phone. Scott has a grin on his face for the rest of the night afterwards.

The Ilderton Skating Rink is bustling with activity the day of the Ilderton Carnival. The parking lot has a ton of games; there are bouncy houses for the kids sitting in an empty grass lot next to the rink and food venders line some of the parking spaces.

The Moir family walks from their house as a group. Scott ends up racing Charlie across the field and Danny walks beside their parents, Joe and Alma. The boys all have on hockey jerseys, but they will inevitably have to change into their costumes for their performances.

"Watch out for cars!" Alma yells after her boys as they enter the parking lot.

Scott tears through the crowd to find his friends. He finds them standing by an ice cream truck a few feet from the entrance doors to the rink.

"Hey, Scott!" They all greet him with ice cream covering their faces.

"You guys ever heard of a napkin?" he jokes.

The group of boys finish their desserts and find their way into the lines for games. Some of the kids try to toss rings around two-liter soda bottles and others make free throws for candy. There are a few sets of hockey sticks and some goals laying around so the boys start a pick-up game of three versus three. Some of the parents gather around and talk while watching their kids play.

Scott's hair is starting to stick to his forehead and he can feel the wetness of his shirt. His team is up by a goal, but he knows that they don't have much time left to play. The parents are starting to collect their kids and usher them into the rink to change for the performances.

Alma crosses the parking lot from the food trucks and calls out for Scott.

"Mom! Five more minutes! My team is winning!" he yells back.

Alma shakes her head. "Five more minutes and then you better get your behind into that changing room!"

Scott goes back to playing and hardly even remembers the conversation.

Once all of the boys are forced inside, they enter the changing rooms and put on their costumes. Some of the boys wear sequins, but Scott lucked out and wears a white t-shirt and jeans. He laces up his black skates and keeps on his guards. He exits the changing room and heads for the ice.

A group of kids stand by the boards watching performances. Scott slips in between two of his buddies and they mostly laugh at what people are wearing. They especially like to tease Danny about his costume.

Danny simply responds with, "Guys get no decision in the wardrobe department. You just have to suck it up and let the girls pick."

Scott just laughs and whispers to his friend, "The sequins really bring out the color in his eyes."

When the line starts moving and people began to shift around, Scott finds himself standing beside Tessa. She seems to be more interested in one of her friends who is performing on the ice and doesn't even notice Scott. He taps her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, Tessa," he says, shyly.

She smiles at him. "Hey, Scott."

"Is that your friend skating?" he asks.

"Yeah. She's been worried about her spin all week. I hope she does okay," Tessa says. Scott can tell by the tone in her voice that she is nervous.

Scott leans up against the boards. "Don't worry. She's going to nail it."

Based on Scott's relaxed demeanor, Tessa starts to feel slightly less worried. The pair lean against the boards and watch her friend's program. When it comes time for the young girl's spin section, she starts her circular motion and maintains her balance while extending her arms. She doesn't fall and keeps her speed. Tessa releases an audible breath of relief.

"You're up next. Are you ready?" Scott asks.

She nods her head slightly. "I've been coming in early every week for extra practice."

The music from the last skater ends. The crowd claps and the girl bows at center ice.

Scott can tell Tessa needs a boost of confidence. "You'll do great," he mutters, grabbing her hand.

A hot flush steals over Tessa's cheeks but she composes herself and breaks away from Scott's hold. She steps on the ice and heads for the center circle.

A quiet comes over the rink and Tessa's music starts. Scott watches as she gracefully loops around and easily lands her first jump. He can't take his eyes off of her. She makes it seem so effortless. Before he knows it, the music ends and she is striking her ending pose.

Scott notices the bucket of flowers behind him against the wall. Usually the coach hands each skater a bouquet, but Scott takes it upon himself to give Tessa hers. He is sure Aunt Carol won't mind.

When Tessa exits the ice, Scott puts the flowers in her arms and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek. The flowers are rather big and she holds them with both arms. In the bleachers, Cara and Jordan erupt in a fit of giggles at the two of them.

After her skate, Tessa walks to the bleachers to sit with her family. She spots her sister in the stands and sits down in the spot next to her. Tessa notices that Scott's parents are a few rows behind them.

The rest of the girls finish their individual skates and the boys are about to start. Scott takes the ice and gets into starting position at center ice. His music starts and he begins to cover the ice with backwards crossovers, leading to his edge work. When it comes time for his shoot-the-duck into a lutz jump, he completely disregards his steps and does a backwards somersault on the ice. He doesn't even break his composure.

Tessa hears his mother burst into a fit of laughter behind her. A smile pulls at Tessa's lips. She can't help but laugh at his brazen confidence.

Alma turns to her husband, shaking her head, and mutters, "That kid."

Scott continues to his spin and executes his last jumps before the music ends. He circles the rink and bows. His friends all laugh at his mischievous smirk. He quickly exits the ice and goes to stand between his buddies again.

The last few intermediate skaters go by before it's the older skaters' turn. Danny and Sheri step onto the ice and the crowd erupts. In the Ilderton community, they are known for being a talented ice dance pair.

Everyone watches as Danny places his arms around Sheri for their opening position. Their music starts and the pair circle each other and effortlessly cover the ice into their first hold. The pair are completely synchronized for their twizzles and maintain speed during their side-by-side section. Their holds are strong and Danny never falters.

As the music comes to an end, Scott claps for his older brother. He feels pride, yet he can't put his finger on the other feeling that overcomes him. As Sheri and Danny skate towards the boards and exit the ice, Scott glances towards the stands at his parents. They are smiling and talking with the people sitting around them.

It's then, standing at the boards watching the crowd clap for his older brother, that Scott acknowledges what he is feeling watching his older brother take in all the applause: envy.


	3. Pairing Up

A few months after the carnival, Scott's friends caught wind that his girlfriend was two years younger than him. Once they found out, Scott couldn't handle the embarrassment of being in grade three and dating a girl in grade one. They immediately made him pick up the phone and break up with her.

It had been a week since he had called it off and his buddies still wouldn't drop it. Now every time Scott skates past Tessa at the rink, he always feels a slight tinge of guilt. They had been "dating" for almost eight months. He can barely look her in the eye anymore.

The skating session today involves pair skating. All the boys are excited because it means holding hands with a girl and bragging about it at hockey practice later. Scott had already ice danced before and knows some of the dance steps, but he wasn't looking forward to it. Danny and Sheri were there to model some of the dance holds and it made Scott self-conscious. To make matters worse, there was already a noticeable separation of boys and girls standing at center ice.

"Everybody quiet down!" Aunt Carol commands.

A silence settles over the group followed by some muffled giggling.

"Today we are going to be working on pair skating. The coaching staff will be pairing boys and girls together to practice some dance holds and to skate the perimeter. You do not get to choose your partner. We will be picking your partner for you," Aunt Carol explains.

"All the boys line up on this side," Aunt Carol says as she points to the left, "and all of the girls will be on the opposite side."

The next ten minutes are spent picking one boy and one girl from each group. The pairs are left standing around the perimeter of the rink until only a few boys and girls remain.

Scott finds himself staring at his feet to avoid looking at Tessa. The next pairing causes animated chatter around the rink.

"Scott and Tessa, you two will be a pair. Please go join the others around the perimeter," Carol says, confidently.

Tessa inhales sharply and Scott feels his face turn bright red. Tessa composes herself and quickly skates over to where Scott is standing. Scott reaches out and grabs her hand before the two skate to an open spot.

When the rest of the boys and girls are paired up, Aunt Carol directs the boys to place a hand on the girls' hips and to extend the other hand out to form a dance hold. The rink echoes with laughter and awkward exchanges of apologies.

Scott hardly breathes, let alone speaks a word to Tessa. Their dance hold is one of the better ones in the group. When they start to skate, Scott finds himself trying to copy Tessa's movements. He mirrors her stroke for stroke and they narrowly avoid running into each other. When Scott feels his hand slipping from Tessa's hip, she nonchalantly places her hand over his. Over the course of a thirty minute skating session, they must have muttered less than five words to each other.

At the end of the session, Danny and Sheri model the correct dance hold form and perform a few dance patterns while everyone stands and watches. Scott rolls his eyes knowing how much Danny and Sheri love the attention. 

"Okay, everyone! That's the end of the session for today. Please take a few cool down laps and make sure to grab your guards before you exit the rink," Aunt Carol explains, "We don't want to be ruining any skates."

Scott and Tessa separate to do a few cool down laps but find themselves standing at the edge of the rink together waiting to gather their skate guards. Most of the girls are talking with their male partners, but Scott and Tessa revel in silence. Scott subconsciously feels somebody watching him and glances around until his eyes rest on Cara. She gives him a thumbs up with a giant smile plastered on her face. Scott just shakes his head and goes back to searching for his guards. 

A few days later, Scott trudges into the rink with his bag slung over his shoulder and notices that a group of skaters are doing a few early warm-up laps. He quickly laces up his skates and makes his way to the ice.

He loosens up his shoulders and does a few forward and backward crossovers in alternating directions. For the next few minutes he works on edges. Other skaters are starting to show up and join him on the ice. He begins to weave in and out of people and ends up standing next to his aunt at the boards.

He snags Cara's water bottle and untwists the lid to take a drink.

"Hey, Scott. You never show up early. What's gotten into you?" Aunt Carol asks.

Scott wipes water from around his mouth and replies, "It was either walk over early and work on my backwards edges or take out the garbage."

She laughs at his explanation. "Well, you would have amazing backwards edges if that were always the case."

He shrugs. "Are we still pair skating today?"

"I haven't decided. Some of my students are working on jumps, but I might have a few of you stay paired up," she says.

Scott turns and notices Tessa has started her warm-up laps around the rink. Aunt Carol pushes away from the boards and mutters, "Follow me, Scott."

He quickly catches up and follows slightly behind her. She comes to a sudden stop and waits for Tessa to pass by and Scott narrowly avoids running into her.

"Tessa! Can you come here, please?" Aunt Carol asks.

Scott watches as Tessa circles around and stops in front of the them.

"Can you come stand next to Scott?"

Tessa glances at Scott's horrified expression and skates over. They stand next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, with Scott narrowly being a few inches taller.

"Okay, you two. Skate a few warm-up laps together." Aunt Carol then skates away towards the boards, leaving the two of them standing alone by the viewing windows.

"Want to start on the other side?" Scott whispers.

Tessa nods, not even muttering a one word answer.

Scott holds Tessa's hand and they skate around the rink until they reach the opposite side. Scott hesitates before placing his hand on Tessa's hip. She extends her arm and he gently grabs her other hand. Once they are in their dance hold, they stroke around the ice. Scott counts in his head to keep pace and not bump into Tessa's skates.

After a few laps, Aunt Carol pulls them aside.

"You two are going to spend this session practicing together," she says. "If you would like, you can take a few laps by yourselves or you can continue to warm-up together."

Without any hesitation, Tessa grabs Scott's hand and pulls him along for another warm-up lap.

From then on, every time Scott sees Tessa at the rink he knows that they will spend the session working together. He would never admit it, but he looks forward to working with her. When they do individual skating drills, he finds himself watching her. 

They both are extremely competitive. Any time Scott lands a jump or nails a pattern, Tessa aims to do better than him the next time. The talking is still at a minimum, but they do occasionally say goodbye when they are leaving the rink.

Before leaving after a pair session, Aunt Carol calls Tessa and Scott over to the boards close to the bleachers. Scott notices his mother sitting with Tessa's family. Tessa squirms and pulls her hand away from Scott's.

Aunt Carol glances between the pair and their families. "I've been watching these two skate together this past week and I believe that they should train together for an ice dance competition. They are within the age limit and with a few more weeks of practice, they could easily enter a competition."

Tessa's mother, Kate, asks, "How far away would the competition be? Relatively close? I still have sporting events for my son and my older daughter. Tessa does other sports on top of just skating. I don't know if I can make all of this work."

Alma quickly interjects. "We would be able to carpool. My husband and I already commute to other rinks for my oldest son's ice dance competitions and for all my boys' hockey practices. It wouldn't be a problem."

"Would it be fairly expensive?" Tessa's grandmother, Eleanor, chimes in.

Aunt Carol and Alma look at each other before Aunt Carol adds, "The kids usually wear hand-me-down show outfits. The only cost would be the entrance fee."

Alma looks to Scott and asks, "Do you want to do this, Scott? You both have to be on board. We can't make you do anything you don't want to."

"Yeah. I'll do it," Scott mutters. He has wanted to ice dance ever since he saw Danny and Sheri at the Ilderton Carnival.

Everybody turns their attention to Tessa. Her eyes dart between Scott and her mother. The pairing only works if Tessa is on board. She takes a deep breath before quietly saying, "I'll do it."


	4. Commuting

Tessa blinks awake to her mother, Kate, gently rubbing her shoulder. It is dark outside and everyone in the house is still sound asleep.

"Come on, sleepy head. It's time to get up. You have practice," Kate whispers.

Tessa rubs her eyes and smooths hair away from her face before slipping out of her warm sheets. She tiredly walks to her closet and pulls on a long-sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt followed by a pair of leggings. She has two pairs of socks in her skate bag but she still slips on another pair before heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

After a few minutes in the bathroom, Tessa grabs her pillow before she walks downstairs to grab a granola bar and a banana from the kitchen counter. As she enters the garage, she is immediately greeted by freezing cold Canadian air. Her skating bag sits off to the side of the car. Tessa opens the trunk to the car and heaves the skating bag into the back.

Kate exits from the house and gets into the front seat. Tessa slides into the back and doesn't even bother to look at the clock. She already knows that nobody should be up this early.

The car ride is quiet. Kate and Tessa enjoy the early morning silence and don't even bother with the radio. Tessa glances out the window as street lights and old industrial buildings fly by. The car slows after ten minutes when they pull into a church parking lot.

Kate parks the car and knows better than to mutter a single word to Tessa. She is not a morning person. The irony of the situation is that only Tessa would pursue a sport that practices before the crack of dawn.

They don't have to wait long before headlights turn into the parking lot and a car pulls up next to theirs. Scott jumps out from his car, loads his skating bag into their trunk, and then climbs into the backseat with Tessa.

"Morning," Scott says cheerily.

Kate smiles knowingly. "Morning, bud."

Scott is Tessa's opposite: a morning person. He will gladly hold a conversation all the way to Kitchener-Waterloo. Tessa usually falls asleep within minutes of getting on the road.

Kate gives a wave to Alma before pulling out of the parking space and heading back towards the main road. They now begin the hour drive to ice dance practice.

Scott pulls the pillow from his lap and spreads a blanket out over his legs. He shoves the lumpy pillow between his seatbelt and the window. Once he's comfortable, he lays his head down and watches out the window, waiting until he feels drowsy enough to fall back asleep.

Tessa, on the other hand, puts her pillow against the window and silently scolds herself for forgetting her blanket back at the house. She looks over to Scott, who is warm and snug in his red plaid blanket.

She curls her feet under her and lays her head against her pillow. She closes her eyes and attempts to fall asleep.

Without any warning, Tessa hears Scott unbuckle his seatbelt. She opens her eyes as Scott moves to the middle seat and spreads his blanket over her. He pulls his pillow from the window and looks to her.

"Want to lean on each other?" he asks.

"Sure," she says.

They put their pillows against each other and lean in simultaneously. Tessa starts to warm up beneath Scott's blanket and a small smile pulls at her lips.

"Better?" Scott mutters.

"Better," she replies.


	5. Kitchener-Waterloo

Scott decides to take a break and sit on a bench at the edge of the rink. His skates are still laced up but his guards are stuck firmly to his blades. The layers of clothing he was wearing on the ice earlier sit in a pile at his feet. He sips from his water bottle and watches as Tessa and Suzanne go through a section of their choreography.

"You doing okay, Scott?" Paul asks.

Scott glances behind him and notices Paul approaching from the gallery. "Yeah. I'm okay," he mutters.

Paul places a hand on Scott's shoulder and gives him a supportive squeeze. "You're doing great. Don't be so tough on yourself, bud."

"Everything is so easy for Tessa," Scott says.

Tessa loops around at center ice and starts a portion of their footwork sequence. Scott watches, envious of her ease when it comes to choreography.

"You can't start making comparisons. It doesn't help your self-confidence or hers. All you can do is support each other and improve together. It's not a competition between you and her; it should be the two of you against everyone else," Paul explains. "Her success is your success."

Scott nods. He feels his envy fade and starts to really focus on Tessa's movements. Watching her execute each movement gives him motivation to match her step-for-step. He gets up from his spot on the bleachers, pulls off his guards, and strokes over to where Tessa stands at center ice.

As he approaches, Suzanne pauses her conversation with Tessa.

"Hey, Scott. Ready to work on that section again?" she asks.

He smiles. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Tessa gives him a light-hearted push and they head to the far side of the rink. Scott notices Paul leaning against the boards and takes a deep breath to steady himself.

"Ready?" Tessa asks.

"Yeah." Scott responds.

Scott places one hand at Tessa's waist and grabs her hand. They get into a steady rhythm and Scott remembers to point his toes and keep his back elongated. He matches Tessa's quick steps and uses their collective momentum to swiftly change direction. At the end of the sequence, Suzanne applauds with approval and Paul gives Scott a subtle thumbs up. The rest of the session is spent learning the new sections that they still need to work on. Before long, Scott feels that he is actually picking up the choreography.

"I think that's all we have time for today. Well done, guys," Suzanne says, officially ending the session.

"Thank you, Suz. See you in two days," Tessa says, gathering up her water bottle and jacket from the boards before following Scott off the ice and towards the locker rooms.

They change quickly and pack up their skating bags. Tessa pulls a scarf around her neck before zipping up her coat. Scott just throws on a sweatshirt and shoves his gloves into his skating bag.

"Good job today, Tess." Scott gives Tessa a small smile.

She turns and studies his facial expression to judge his sincerity. He can tell she is over-thinking the context of his comment in her head.

"I mean it. You did really great today. Maybe I'll catch up to you one day," he jokes.

She smiles. "I think you have that the other way around."

Tessa gives him no time to respond. She grabs her bag and starts towards the Moirs' car in the parking lot. He grabs his things and quickly follows after her.

The car ride home is quiet. Scott leaves the middle seat open and sticks to his side of the car. They stop through the Tim Horton's drive-thru on the way back and Scott gets his usual order of hot chocolate with extra whip cream. He remembers extra napkins and passes them to Tessa when she has a small spill on her coat.

"It tastes better when you drink it, T," he teases.

He catches a faint smile before she shakes her head at him.

After cleaning up her mess and putting her hot chocolate down, Tessa pulls a book out of her bag and begins to read. The sun is starting to peak out of the clouds and begin its ascent into the sky.

Scott watches the landscape fly by through his window. The radio softly plays in the background and he can hear his mother quietly singing the lyrics to a country song under her breath.

The comfort and familiarity of the car ride lulls his mind and his eyes start to close.

He wakes up and they are in the church parking lot again. Tessa repacks her bag and opens the car door.

"Bye, Scott. Thank you for driving, Alma!" she says.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Alma replies.

Scott quickly waves before Tessa shuts the door.

He watches as she climbs into the back of her own car and shortly thereafter the car begins to pull away, exiting the parking lot. He finds himself focusing on the red hue of the taillights.

"Ready for school, bud?" Alma asks.

Scott just gives her an exasperated look and Alma laughs.

A few days later, Scott and Tessa are in the backseat of the Virtues' car on the way to Kitchener again. Scott sits in the middle seat with his blanket spread out over the both of them, but Tessa's pillow shifted at some point in the drive and he wakes to her head on his shoulder. He tries not to move too much because he doesn't want to wake her. He attempts to straighten his posture and places a hand on Tessa's cheek to steady her head. Once he's comfortable, he drops his hand and watches the road through the front window. Kate catches his gaze in the rear view mirror and gives him a smile.

Tessa sleeps for the rest of the drive until they pull into the rink parking lot. The curb at the entrance to the parking lot is rather bumpy and the jostling of the car can pull just about anyone from sleep.

Tessa lazily opens her eyes and takes her time before sitting up. She smooths down the fly-away hairs from her ponytail and starts to gather her coat and gloves. Scott doesn't bother to move and just waits for Kate to park the car.

The practice session today entails a dance class with barre work. Scott isn't the biggest fan of ballet, but he grits his teeth and gets through it. Tessa is adamant that flexibility is a must for success on the ice, but he just doesn't see the necessity of it. He remembers the time he swiped Tessa's pointe shoes from her bag, squeezed his feet into them, and attempted to go on pointe. By the time Tessa looked over and noticed what he was up to, he was on the floor holding his toes. He usually makes a point to goof around during barre to ensure that Tessa doesn't get too serious.

Scott rounds the back of the car and pulls Tessa's skate bag from the trunk. He wheels both of their bags into the building and leaves her bag just outside of the girls' changing room. Kate bids them goodbye and heads back towards the parking lot.

They change in a few minutes and walk together to a bench to put on their skates.

Tessa turns to Scott and asks, "Are we doing our final run-through of choreography today?"

He nods. "I think we are mainly working on the free dance."

Scott double knots his skates and tucks the laces into the sides of his boots. He stands up and waits for Tessa to finish lacing her skates before they discard their guards and step onto the ice. Suzanne and Paul are still no where in sight, so they decide to start their warm-up on their own.

Tessa begins to stroke around the ice and stretch out her legs. Scott moves his arms in circles and starts to stretch out his shoulders. They both circle the rink and focus on warming up different muscles to prepare their bodies for the execution of their free program.

Once he feels that his body is warm and his muscles are stretched, Scott skates up behind Tessa and places a hand on her shoulder. She looks behind her and mutters, "Ready?"

They circle the rink a few times, hand-in-hand, before beginning their patterned warm-up.

"Don't think about the choreography today. Just imagine the flow of the program. Think of the cues Suzanne talked about and how one piece leads into another," Tessa says. She always has a rationale behind her thinking. Scott can't help but smile because he knows she must have rehearsed what she was going to say to comfort him.

He feels motivated and wants to nail the program so that they can have confidence heading into their upcoming competition. He believes that it should be his job to lead her, not the other way around.

He takes a deep breath and embraces the soreness in his legs. It is all about mind over matter when it comes to competitions. Tessa squeezes his hand and brings his thoughts back to the present. Suzanne and Paul walk towards the boards.

"We got this," Tessa says, confident.

Scott just nods his head and puts his thoughts behind him, focusing on the present.


End file.
